People & Places

Best activist organization on two wheels New York 2006 - Time's Up

Sometimes you can gauge a gadfly's success by the backlash it creates. Drivers don't much care for members of Time's Up, especially when they're stuck behind the wheel as phalanxes of bicyclists cruise by during Critical Mass rallies (the last Friday of every month). Police don't much care for them either (remember that most traffic cops drive all day), and NYPD commissioner Ray Kelly has tried to push through draconian protest rules that would have kept two or more bicyclists from riding together. All this only proves the effectiveness of the environmental-awareness group's in-your-face m.o. Time's Up encourages New Yorkers to get around on bikes or skates by showing us how wasteful and inconvenient it can be to navigate the city in a carbon-monoxide-spewing car. At the same time, members are working to make biking safer and more convenient. They ride en masse to calm traffic in city parks, work to clear designated bike lanes of delivery trucks and double-parkers, sponsor "ghost rides" to remember cyclists killed in traffic accidents, and connect with the community through meet-and-greets, bike repair workshops, and group excursions to the beach and beyond. Check out their website for a monthly schedule of events, or stop by their headquarters on Houston between Mulberry and Mott. Some of the members who are always hanging around are bound to engage you in a friendly chat about politics, police tactics, the now extinct Williamsburg Bridge bumps, you name it—and you'll probably end up invited to their monthly barbecue.